I’m a cross country runner. However, I never played much sport at school, and to be honest I could never understand why anyone would enjoy it. I was the girl who, when the “I’m on my period” excuse wore thin (I once tried it out for four weeks… consecutively…), told her PE teacher she had chronic diarrhea because “he couldn’t check.”
When I turned 17 my attitude to sport and exercise really changed. I remember sitting at the dining table with my mum and dad, telling them I couldn’t sleep, that my head was always whirring because of exam stress, and I was permanently exhausted. My dad suggested I tried doing half an hour of exercise three times a week.
So I took up running. I was drawn to it because it was a fairly self-explanatory form of exercise. It was also goal-based, which I love, and allowed me to create a plan and have a physical aim (distance, time, speed) to work on and improve. Ever since, the miles started to come easier, my speed quickened. Now, I’ve tried strength training, swimming, spinning, bootcamps, HIIT and a half-marathon, and plan to keep fitness a part of my life forever.
This Tuesday, I ran my first “Fast 5km.” As my best friend was cheering me from the side, and I felt like I was going to wet myself, we both started crying for achieving (or in my case, creating) our PB’s. The overwhelming sense of personal achievement, the bond that we have, and the lasting empowerment of knowing that I created this body to do the best that it can, is unlike any other feeling.
(Photo Credit: www.thisgirlcan.co.uk)
Despite the fact it is a huge problem these days, I often grow tired of seeing negative depictions of fitness in the media. I know we are bombarded with bikini body transformations and skinny tea-detoxes, but from being with the ladies of Bristol’s Athletics and Cross Country Club, I see strong women who want to work on being the best they can.
I want people to come to sport realizing that they won’t downward spiral into pedantic, kale-munching neurotics. Sport is an outlet, a source of self-improvement and empowerment.
I hope by reading their responses, in their unedited form, you will find inspiration and comfort, knowing that it is normal to feel pressurized and sometimes a bit obsessive. But, by refocusing on why an active life can enhance what you already have, rather than simply taking fat, calories and happiness away, you will lace up your trainers, and never look back.
Daisy Mummery: Cross Country
How did you first get into fitness/sport?
I remember exactly. I was on holiday and there was a gym in the hotel and I decided to go with my mum and from that point I was hooked! I started running about once a week and really enjoyed it. From then, I started a military class with my family which was super fun. I would say I really became most sporty when I started uni, and joined the cross country club and then started to properly train and run races.
Some people find exercise a source of dread. Why do you enjoy it/how did you get to this level?
At the start, I did ASWELL! But as you see progress it becomes more ‘addictive’ and it’s the improvements that really drives me to continue. Also just that feeling of fitness is so important for me. I think it takes time to fall in love with exercise, but once you do there’s no turning back!
Recently, there’s a lot of stigma around the fitness industry and women, claiming being ‘fit’ is a source of anxiety/can provoke unhealthy relationships with the body. Has this ever applied to you? If so, how have you combatted it?
I definitely have struggled with my relationship with food and exercise. Exercise does sometimes become an obsession and a chore. Sometimes I’ve felt like I have to exercise to deserve to eat. However, since I have used exercise as more of a challenge – i.e. Running more competitively I have seen it as more of a challenge and see improving my running as more important than being skinny as such. Therefore, yes I have struggled and do continue sometimes, but overall exercise has helped to overcome my struggles to have a healthy mind and body.
Kayla Urbanski: Athletics/Female Fitness Rep for Weightlifting Society
How would you describe your current ‘fitness routine/sport of choice’?
I have been involved in sport throughout my education, however my focus on fitness excelled during A-levels. This has continued throughout my University studies; I train with UBACCC Track two times a week, work out in the gym 4 times and hold a weekly Female Fitness session through MASS society.
Why are you drawn to being fit?
Exercise and healthy living are essential components to my academic and social enjoyment of University. This is because exercise is not a job, you should never feel pressured to exercise 5 times and week and abide by strict diets found on social media. Personally, exercise is an opportunity to meet so many people with amazing stories and diverse backgrounds all sharing the same passion; be it within Athletics or weightlifting one things is true- every individual participates because they love it.
Why do you think sport/fitness is important for women?
I don’t believe that healthy living and fitness should ever have become socially fashionable, it completely disregards the actual point of it. Sports and fitness is so important to physical and mental well-being, reducing risks of illness and disease and forming friendships with individuals similarly passionate about exercise.
Not for one moment do I support this move of fitness and exercise online, it endangers so many people who end up being drowned in the images of unrealistic perfection and developing self-loathing due to it. Women should be proud of their body and they should never feel forced to go to the gym, to wear that branded gym item or to follow whatever diet fad is flooding Instagram. It hurts me to see so many fall into this trend, but I am so optimistic to see a change in perception, to see women be happy with themselves and to exercise because they love it; not because the internet told them to.
Georgie Fenn: Cross Country
How did you first get into fitness/sport?
I have been into running since forever, and because my Dad is sporty being active was always part of my childhood. Then at school I was lucky to get the most inspirational sports teacher just at the right moment. She specialised in long distance running and despite me not being very good at that point she spent so much time talking and training me everyday, and then it just came apart of my routine.
Some people find exercise a source of dread. Why do you enjoy it/how did you get to this level?
I am the most competitive person- but only really with myself. In my opinion there is no better feeling than beating a PB and knowing that you got there through your own work. I know that, even if I might have to seriously grit my teeth on a rainy 7am Monday morning long run, in the long term it will be worth it. The hard work makes it so much more worthwhile in the end.
Recently, there’s a lot of stigma around the fitness industry and women, claiming being ‘fit’ can provoke unhealthy relationships with the body. Has this ever applied to you?
My sister had anorexia for five years that started out as overexercising to ‘get fitter’. It certainly confused me for a long time, and there was a point where I was a lot lighter weight than I should have been. But as I got lighter, my times got slower and although it took a while to realise, the only way to improve them was to get stronger. Running was more important so I had to make a change. I think the media often portrays a very one sided conversation on exercise- they promote it as a weight-loss mechanism and often make us feel guilty for having a day off. I do agree that it is important to give that side of the story, but it is also so important that the other side- where exercise is destructive as in the case of my sister- is not ignored.
Why do you think sport/fitness is important for women?
Sport is important for everyone. Being physically fit means that you have invested time and effort into yourself in a constructive way. It produces a little glow of pride that you can carry around with you long after the training has finished
Rosie Street: Spin Instructor/Cross Country
How did you first get into fitness/sport?
I can’t remember! I have been doing some kind of sport for as long as I can remember, from rock climbing to cheerleading, netball to rowing to triathlon to now cross country.
How would you describe your current ‘fitness routine/sport of choice’?
I tend to exercise about 5 times per week. I do 2-3 cross country sessions per week, including an intense run, a long run and a circuits session. I am also a Spinning instructor and teach 1-2 times per week at the University gym. I try and do 30minutes ish of weight training weekly too.
Recently, there’s a lot of stigma around the fitness industry and women, claiming being ‘fit’ is a source of anxiety/can provoke unhealthy relationships with the body. Has this ever applied to you? If so, how have you combatted it?
I can understand how it may do. I think there is a trend for some women to see cardio exercise as something to do to perhaps banish the guilt of eating. I think it is actually very common for young women to have an odd relationship with food and exercise, and see it in a lot of people that I know. I am guilty too, thinking that after eating something very unhealthy or too much that I need a run.
I think it is important to distance yourself from the games your mind has, and see the bigger picture. In a western society we often exercise in order to burn off the excess calories we have consumed. This is not what we evolved to do, or what any other organism on the planet does.
People today who do not have access to adequate food do not have the luxury of this. We need to appreciate both food and exercise and the needs they fulfil, not the problems they bring. Exercise refreshes, empowers and strengthens you in many ways. It can cure a bad mood, will improve your health in hundreds of ways and is a way to make new friends. It is probably the only thing on the planet that improves physical, social and mental well-being, and that is why it is so important.
Athletics Runner
How did you first get into fitness/sport? How would you describe your current ‘fitness routine/sport of choice’?
I have always been an active child, my parents encouraged physical activity and outdoor play when I grew up. They let me find my own way, and over the years I tried virtually every sport there is. I did some for longer than others, and enjoyed some more than others, and when I was about 8 I first saw a high jump mat, and since then I “wanted to be like the athletes on TV”. I joined an athletics club, and have been doing track and field more or less since then, with a few breaks to do other sports inbetween. For the majority of the last 5 years I have been doing athletics competitively, and training for results, as opposed to for general fitness/looks.
Some people find exercise a source of dread. Why do you enjoy it/how did you get to this level? How has sport/fitness changed your life?
I find that the benefits of hard training far outweighs the pain and discomfort of the actual activity. Making exercise part of my routine is what helps me keep going, because then you don’t need to find motivation to do it every time – instead it’s just part of your day, and you do it regardless.
Competing at a high level and dedicating such a large part of my life to training for many years meant that it didn’t really change my life; it became my life. Understandably, most people would rather just be doing sport for fun and the health benefits, but I find that once I commit to something I want to fully commit.
Recently, there’s a lot of stigma around the fitness industry and women, claiming being ‘fit’ is a source of anxiety/can provoke unhealthy relationships with the body. Has this ever applied to you? If so, how have you combatted it?
Personally I think that being fit is a source of happiness and content with yourself, but at times it does also stress me out. This is caused by the way other people view me, or at least how I think they view me, which a lot of the time comes from boys feeling emasculated because I am “fitter” than them.
This often leads to degrading comments about the way I look, especially the amount of muscle I have. This has definitely left its marks on me mentally, and I do worry that I look too manly, or have too much muscle. I constantly try to turn it around though, to see the positives of it all: to be a good runner you need to be fit, and surrounding yourself with people who are supportive of women in sports is incredibly helpful – they help you appreciate yourself and support your sports achievements.